Sloane ignores Sterling’s phone call, as well as her father’s surly message that it is her “wifely duty” to return home immediately. Sloane tells them both that she is in control of her own life and will not comply with their demands. By this point, Jasper is exhausted, so they stop in Rose Hill for the night. Jasper had planned to get separate rooms, but Sloane asks for one room with two beds, citing the need to save money—something that neither of them needs to worry about. Jasper fantasizes about being intimate with Sloane, and even though she belongs to no one, he wishes that she were his.

Jasper awakens from a recurring nightmare about the death of his sister, Jenny, which occurred when Jasper and his family were riding four-wheelers. At that time, Jasper signaled that a truck was coming, but Jenny didn’t understand the hand signals and was struck by the oncoming truck. Even now, years later, Jasper still blames himself for her death.

From the hotel room window, Jasper sees Sloane swimming in the lake. He walks out to check on her because the water is freezing, and she dares him to join her. Jasper gets in, swims to Sloane, and dunks her playfully. They wrestle in the water, which reminds them of swimming in the lake when they were kids—but secretly, Jasper enjoys the chance to put his hands all over her nearly naked body. He helps her out of the lake, and they hold hands and go in search of food.

At dinner, the waitress recognizes Jasper and flirts with him. In recent days, Jasper has noticed how thin Sloane is, but he hasn’t said anything about it. Now, she only orders a salad for dinner, but she ends up eating some of Jasper’s meal and washing it down with beer, which tastes like “rebellion.” She appreciates how attentive Jasper is and how he makes her feel. Jasper wants her to play pool with him, and they flirtatiously banter as Sloane initially refuses. However, Sloane can’t keep her eyes off Jasper’s body, so she joins him at the pool table.

Because Sloane is tipsy, she worries she might accidentally confess her “pathetic and tragically unrequited” (173) feelings for Jasper. Sloane is terrible at pool, so Jasper leans over her, holding her wrist to show her proper form. This soon becomes an intimate and arousing moment for Sloane, but when he touches her engagement ring, she thinks to herself that he views them as nothing more than friends. A hockey fan asks Jasper to autograph her shirt, while another asks him to sign her breasts, but he refuses. Sloane overhears the interaction and tells the ladies that they are making fools of themselves, only for them to insult her by declaring that she is clearly married yet is “whoring around” with Jasper. The insult reminds her of Sterling, and she laughs maniacally at the thought of his anger over her choices. Seeing that Sloane is drunk, Jasper escorts her out of the bar. She jokingly asks if he will sign her breasts, and Jasper replies that it’s hard to imagine doing that, given their history.

Back in the hotel room, Sloane drunkenly suggests that they give each other facials, but Jasper only agrees on the condition that will drink some water to counter the alcohol. Sensing that something is shifting between them, Jasper recalls their closeness at the bar as he leaned over her body at the pool table. As Sloane begins smearing a clay mask on his face, her touch sends shocks of desire through his body. When he returns the favor, touching her face is almost more than he can handle. Sloane abruptly jumps from the bed, breaking the tension.

Sloane wakes up with a hangover and is embarrassed about her behavior the previous night. In the car, she apologizes to Jasper for her foolishness, but he thanks her for saving him from the hockey fans. Sloane insists that he must be accustomed to having access to any woman he wants, but Jasper says that most of the time, the women’s interest is just about sex. He explains that his fame forces him to “question everything and everyone” (199) because most people are only interested in him for his money and his status. Even his mother only calls him when she needs money, and Jasper gladly sends it because he feels responsible for her struggles with substance use.

Sloane reflects that Jasper has too much to bear. After his sister’s death, his father left the family, leading to his mother’s decline. Sloane recalls the night at Wishing Well when Jasper shared his story for the first time. She was too young and immature to respond, so she danced instead. Since then, they have shared a special bond, and despite the distance that still exists between them, she feels connected to Jasper. As she rubs his neck, she notices the engagement ring that she should remove, but she worries that doing so will free her to reveal her truth to him.

Sloane’s father texts her, demanding that she respond to him and return home immediately. Meanwhile, the terrain becomes steeper, and the truck picks up speed as it descends. Jasper remains calm as he explains that the trailer brakes aren’t working. Sloane panics, but Jasper talks her through it, insisting that she trust him and stay calm. The truck is barreling down the hill, but Jasper pulls into an emergency lane and brings the truck to a stop. For a moment, Jasper seems paralyzed, and Sloane realizes that the incident has triggered his trauma, so she climbs into his lap and holds his face. Jasper jolts back to reality and checks to make sure that Sloane is not injured. As she presses her forehead to his, he declares that he can’t bear the thought of losing her, then kisses her. They kiss passionately, and Sloane wants to continue, but Jasper says it will happen “[w]hen I say so” (218). He leaves her panting in the truck and goes to check the trailer brakes.

Jasper drives to the nearest town to have the trailer brakes checked. Jasper is still shaken by the incident, reflecting that they could both have died without him getting the chance to tell Sloane how he feels. Sloane wants to discuss their kiss, wondering if Jasper sees it as no more than “a moment of insanity” (221). Jasper reassures her that he wanted to kiss her. Sloane is angry because she has had feelings for him for a long time, and she thinks that Jasper only wants her now because she was going to marry someone else. Jasper knew that she once had a crush on him, but he mistakenly thought that she “outgrew it.”  

The hotel only has a room with a king bed, and Sloane grows increasingly angry. Once inside their room, she tests him by threatening to return to Sterling. Jasper’s jaw clenches as he forbids this, stating that Sterling “sucks the life” from her and that he, Jasper, wants “to breathe it back in” (230-31).

Jasper explains why he has never acted on his feelings, saying that Sloane moved to the city at 18, while Jasper was 24 and was just starting his career with the Grizzlies. He reveals that when he helped Sloane move into her apartment, her father saw him there and warned Jasper to stay away from her. (Sloane’s father had connections on the team and threatened to sabotage Jasper’s career if Jasper were to pursue a romance with Sloane. Sloane cries upon realizing her father’s treachery. Jasper apologizes for living in fear, but at that time, he had worked too hard for his career and couldn’t take the risk. However, he no longer fears losing his career, and he wants to have a relationship with Sloane.